Le Petit Café

Le Petit Café We closed our dinners to general public but we will be happy to host your party. 4pp minimum. email us @ [email protected]

Not familiar with Provincial French cooking? A visit to Le Petit Cafe will reveal a cycling menu of simple, yet classy dishes made primarily using the three key ingredients of French cuisine: wine, butter, and cream! :)

We always offer:
Steak for $19.95
Chicken breast for $13.95
Fish or seafood, usually $15.95
A fourth or fifth special is always available, but with more variety. You could have

a choice of pork, rabbit, lamb, or even beef tongue, among other options. While the dish pattern always remains the same, the variety (and true pleasure!) is in Marina's creative sauces, which have kept customers coming back for years! Here at Le "Pete"--as Patrick will often call it as he bumbles around the dining room--the sauces are really what matter. In fact, sometimes we don't even bother with the meat! Just kidding, of course...we may be quirky, but even we know where to draw the line! The meals are inclusive of a soupe du jour or a green salad served with our house vinaigrette, as well as two family-style sides to complement the main dishes. The sides vary from fried potatoes, quiche, or sauteed veggies or greens. And let's not forget appetizers and desserts! For appetizers we offer phyllo dough cheese pastries or chicken liver paté, and our desserts come in a wide variety, from rich chocolate mousse to custard drenched cakes to summer fruit cobblers!

This is Anna, our daughter.She just started her 9 month training in pastry making. And looking happy, and so professiona...
09/02/2026

This is Anna, our daughter.
She just started her 9 month training in pastry making.
And looking happy, and so professional 😍
She left everything behind to live her dream in Paris.
What can I say? We did the same some 50 years ago, but in the opposite direction 😄
And every time I complain to the kids about them being so far, they remind me of it 😂

On Saturday then, I will prepare the crêpe I mentioned earlier: apples Chèvre and walnuts.
Our quiche will be rather a tarte: mushrooms, cream but no eggs, on a thin wheat crust.
Thus vegetarian but not gf, sorry.
We will also have an ovenbaked French toast with peaches and custard.

By the way , someone cut the grass in front of the restaurant while I was gone.
It was a very nice thing to do, but I don't know who did it…
So if it's one of you, thank you very very much 🥰

And I just remembered today is September 2nd! Le Petit Café's 49th anniversary! ❤️

08/30/2026

It's nice to be back at work.
I even enjoyed frying some eggs today, and frying eggs may be the only thing I don't enjoy doing.
That tells you how happy I am to be at work,

I know, I am completely ridiculous. But you must understand that I lost that personal, and nostalgic, connection with Paris.
I am happy to go there, but I am happy to come back too.
No more sadness.
I am a tourist in Paris now.

My daughter has been living in Paris for 2 1/2 years and is more French and more Parisian than I ever was.

A ridiculous tourist too who glanced at menu boards wondering if her Window customers would like ground beef in their crêpes…
You know what they say: you can take the girl out of the Window but etc….

No, I will not put ground beef in your crêpe next Saturday , but I'm already thinking of more autumnal choices.
Apples with a little Chèvre, walnuts and a touch of honey…
Walnuts may be a problem for some of you, but you know what?
I will keep a few portions nutless.
The goat, on the other hand, stays.
I draw the line at the goat.

And a confused tourist as well.
One who needs to be explained how things work! But it is not my fault if everything changes during my absences from Paris!
A new terminal at CDG airport which complicates everything and a whole new process to leave the airport!
And what about the subway tickets now?! What was wrong with paper tickets? Everything has to be automated now! (Says Marina who ADORES her robotvac 🤔)
Oh well.

But thanks to Anna, my personal guide, I enjoyed myself getting out and in of CDG and in busses and the Métro.
On the other hand, as soon as I got into Detroit I felt on more familiar grounds.
Yes, Detroit's is an airport I can still relate to 😂

I’m still on my way back home but already thinking of what I'm going to prepare for you.My week in Paris was great and e...
08/25/2026

I’m still on my way back home but already thinking of what I'm going to prepare for you.
My week in Paris was great and exactly what I was hoping it'd be. About family, long walks, a little culture too (one exhibition but no museums, no need to overdo it 😄), and many restaurants.

Although restaurant prices went up in Paris, they still seemed lower than what we pay back home.
It used to be the other way around.
A steak, fries and salad for € 24.50 on a charming old square is a good deal for Paris.
It reminds me I need to get some chicken livers out of the freezer as soon as I get home, so I can prepare some pâté for Saturday.
And yesterday tea time on Place des Vosges, a must during my visits.
Luckily on my first day the temperature dropped and remained pleasantly warm during the entire week!

So I was thinking zucchini and spinach in the crêpe and Carbonara in the quiche.

Very sadly, while I was gone one of my regular dogs at the Window had to be put to sleep. Her guy brought her so we could say good bye, and Patrick gave Sadie her last piece of bacon.
I will miss you, Sadie.

I was on Air France on my way to Paris and the service was fantastic! Free-Champagne-and-would-you- like-a-refill fantastic.
Delta on the way back, still lovely but no Champagne.
Oh well.

I hope you had a great week too and see you… dès que possible!
🥰

Hello, Keep in mind we shall be closed on the weekend of August 22nd and 23rd.I quite dislike the thought of missing a ...
08/12/2026

Hello,

Keep in mind we shall be closed on the weekend of August 22nd and 23rd.

I quite dislike the thought of missing a Window, you know that, and it is beyond my French family's comprehension why I can't miss more than one Window 🤔
Only about 50 Windows left ahead and I want to miss as few as possible.
Well, if they knew you they would understand why 🥰

My husband mentioned that he might “improvise” a Window while I was gone 🤔
I begged him not to 🥴

Meanwhile we will be here on Saturday with our usual croques, a simple crêpe with cheese and bacon, gf zucchini quiche over polenta crust, and oven-baked French toast in chocolate and a hint of lemon.

This is a picture of one of my very favorite birthdays: my 63rd, which I celebrated 11 years ago with my beloved girls, Sarah, Kayla and Mollie, who assisted me for many years at the Window.
Before they had children and I, grandchildren.

See you soon! 🥰

08/09/2026

Hello,

I was having one of my many conversations about the Window with my daughter, and telling her I was already stressed about having to close it at the end of 27.

Of course, I do have hobbies and enjoy traveling and wouldn't mind doing some volunteer work (teaching French at the library for instance, or maybe having a French Help hour right here at the Café?), but, for some reason, I don't feel the same passion for any of these activities as I do when I am in my kitchen.

“But Mom, Anna said, you don't have to completely leave the Window. Get yourself a rocking chair, she suggested, and let people know you'll be there at a certain time with 2 bowls: one filled with candy for the kids, and the other with ham for the dogs.”
What a smart girl I have made.
With a little help.
It would be a nice way of
transitioning.

After that, I'll be ready to help those middle/high school monsters with their French homework.

Enjoy your Sunday! 🥰🥰

08/08/2026

While I was relaxing after my busy shift - thank you, Bloomington - I had a little fun animating my new profile picture.
I looked like I was selling some illegal substances to my customer, with a little smirk on my face , you know something saying "Here you go,, man, be careful now"
It's hilarious , but I cannot possibly post it, I might get Scott and me in trouble
Lovely seeing you and see you again as soon as possible for some perfectly legit food. 🥰
And by the way, some of you may have heard me say we were gonna close on August 22nd, but that's not for good,.It's just that weekend ❤️

This picture will immortalize Le Petit Café, hopefully for many years to come, after we are long gone.At eye level too f...
08/08/2026

This picture will immortalize Le Petit Café, hopefully for many years to come, after we are long gone.
At eye level too for a change.

Many people have asked us if we're sad that our trees will soon be cut down.
Yes and no.
Naturally, we will be a little sad for those trees have provided our building with nice shade for some 35 years.
But they have done their time and no longer look happy.

On the other hand, my less sentimental side will be relieved not to have to sweep those buds, those flowers , those twigs, those pears week after week.
And maybe, out of the shade, our irises will get a chance to grow stronger…
But the building will look a little forlorn…

The grandchildren will be gone by Saturday and our days will soon resume a quieter pace. It won't be long before we miss...
08/05/2026

The grandchildren will be gone by Saturday and our days will soon resume a quieter pace.
It won't be long before we miss them, but we won't mind too much going back to our more peaceful (and perhaps slightly boring?) old routine.
😄
Besides, Christmas is only a few months away and during the fall time always seems to go faster.

Meanwhile, I could not resist adding just a few beets to my potato and bacon quiche.
Mostly for the color, really.
So lovely.
Quite frankly, were it not for the pinkness you may not even know you're eating beets.
Only 3 to feed 48 people!
Surely, even if you dislike them you won't mind sharing one with 15 people, will you? 😄

Our crêpe will be filled with a cheesy spinach Béchamel.

Dessert, a mess of cake and thick chocolate sauce. Not a custard for a change, more like a rich chocolate pudding.
And All The Usual Suspects.

And here is Élodie, the poster girl for the steakhouse of your choice. 😄
See you as soon as possible 🥰

Address

308 W 6th Street
Bloomington, IN
47404

Opening Hours

8am - 1pm

Telephone

+18123349747

Website

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